OREM — The Bountiful Lady Braves volleyball team was one game away from claiming the Region 6 title outright during the regular season.

Instead, they had to settle for a tie with Woods Cross and a No. 2 seed heading into the state 4A volleyball tournament last Friday and Saturday.

The result was only slightly more satisfying once the tournament was over.

Finishing in fifth place, Bountiful ended up one place higher than the 2010 squad, losing the second game of the tournament while sweeping through the rest of the bracket.

With an opening round victory over Region 8 Maple Mountain (25-19, 25-17, 30-28) to start the tournament, the Lady Braves were already off to a better start than in 2010.

They suffered a four-set loss to Skyline, however, and were forced to play their way through the remainder of the loser’s bracket Saturday.

The second day of the tournament started off in the same fashion as the first, as the Braves beat Box Elder in four games (25-18, 25-21, 19-25 and 25-21) during the opening rounds of Saturday’s matches.

Possibly hoping to play their cross-town rivals again, they eagerly awaited as the Wildcats of Woods Cross faced off against Sky View in the match following the Braves.

But instead, they ended up taking on the Bobcats, where they won in four sets (19-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-19) to finish in fifth place.

Skyline, who knocked the Braves from the upper bracket on the first day, lost the opening match to eventual champion Timpview in five games.

Skyline finished two spots ahead of Bountiful.

Rounding out the top five include second-place finisher Salem Hills and fourth-place finisher Olympus.

Orem finished sixth, Sky View seventh and Mountain Crest in eighth.

The Braves ended the season with a 22-10 overall record including the playoffs, with a 9-1 Region 6 record.

Bountiful will start off the next season having only lost four seniors, including Tiffany Beazer, Madi Packard, Ashley Purcell and Lauren Winters.

Among some of the familiar names for next year may include Brindee Herrick, Rachel Cottle, Tipper Nelson and Marnae Bell.

Herrick, Nelson and Cottle will be seniors heading into the 2012 campaign, with Bell possibly coming back as a junior for the Lady Braves.